England veteran Joe Root may have been dubbed “grandad” by rising star Harry Brook but the batter says playing in a youthful Test side makes him feel like Peter Pan.
Once the new kid on the block, Root is now the senior player in the England set-up after accumulating 144 Test appearances over 12 years, including a lengthy stint as captain.
His position as the team’s elder statesman was cemented by the retirement of fast-bowling great James Anderson earlier this season.
Root showed his experience with a gritty unbeaten 62 to help England grind its way to a target of 205 and a five-wicket win in the first Test against Sri Lanka on a slow pitch at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Among his teammates celebrating England going 1-0 up in a three-match series were Shoaib Bashir, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith, who have just 15 Test appearances between them.
The England squad for the second Test at Lord’s, starting on Thursday, includes uncapped 20-year-old fast bowler Josh Hull, called up after Mark Wood was ruled out of the remainder of the series with a thigh injury.
“They don’t get younger do they?” said Root after England made it four wins out of four Tests this season following a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies.
Also read | England’s Wood ruled out of Sri Lanka Test series, Josh Hull named replacement
“Those guys, they keep you young more than anything,” he added. “In this job you can be a bit like Peter Pan, you never really have to grow up; you just think you’re the same age as the guy you’re batting with or the blokes around you.
“I think the really nice thing about it is we all get on really well with each other, even if we do take the mick out of each other.
“Brooky was calling me grandad the other day... I mean 33 is a good effort to be a grandad! It was so funny, he was chasing me in the field saying ‘Don’t let me catch you’ as if we were playing a village game. That’s what you want, for it to be fun and to have a laugh out there.
“It’s nice to forget that there’s a bit on the line and you can just enjoy it, and we were able to do that which is a really good place to be.
“I still feel pretty young and I feel like there’s a lot of cricket left in me.”
England could include more young talents when it names its white-ball squads for next month’s series against Australia.
Following the sacking of limited-overs head coach Matthew Mott last month after lacklustre defences of England’s 50-over and T20 World Cup titles, more change could be on the way as the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali wait to find out if they have an international future.
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